Sunday, February 27, 2011

Morning everyone-
I cannot believe it is already the end of February. March is my block month but I will be delayed in posting them I'm sorry. I am nearly there with the cutting and instructions but with the devastation in Christchurch my focus has been redirected.With being such a small country is has affected us all in some way. Our thoughts and love go out to everyone affected,especially to those who have lost dear ones and those families who have loved ones missing.
Our mail goes through Christchurch and so there is a big delay but they will arrive-please bear with me.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

I spent some time tonight playing with fabrics I've never worked with before!

Teresa, here are your finished blocks, thank you for expanding my stash as I went to my quilt shop and picked up a tiny bit of reproduction fabric to use. Now I have leftovers to make pincushions or something!

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Hi Lizzie!Can you tell me where you found the instructions for the quilt thatyou finished earlier this month? It's beautiful. (quick everyone, go check out Lizzie's blog...the quilt is pictured in February...so pretty)I'm in another quilting bee (the other one is only 6 of us Canadian girls so it's quick and easy LOL). I was thinking that block would beperfect for mine. I picked Feeling Groovy fabric...8 colours pluswhite for the background. it's for my little Lisa, she's a hippiechick and her favourite expression to say goodbye (or even when sheleaves the room) is Peace out people's of the world!Have you seen that fabric line? Oh it's too cute. Anyway, if it's a block that I can find online I would really appreciate it,Thanks, Vivian

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Good morning
I see houses in my future. I know my turn is not until July but I am just thinking ahead.
My Christmas village is made up of Homes, Schools and Churches....a very educated Christian community...oh, yes and a little quilt shop! .anyway, I would love to make a community quilt filled with buildings...
I will work out the specifics of my idea and post again when it is closer to my turn.
Woke up this morning with this on my mind...wonder what brought this on but oh well....Hope its ok that I posted this!

I have enjoyed making the blocks for everyone so far. Thanks SanDee for telling me about this great online quilting bee! It is so nice to connect with my new quilting friends......

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Hi friends! Just before sealing the envelopes last week it occurred to me...why did I not finish the original project using these lovely 30's fabrics? It was the icky solid green!! So I quickly cut some Moda Bella solid white to put in your bundles and I removed the icky green.

The directions are outlined on this previous post, just ignore the icky green!

Thank you so much for helping me with this project! I love the 30's fabrics and I think the white will look real crisp and lovely with them!

Saturday, February 5, 2011

I have been absent from blogging this year but now it is time to get back on track-work has been soooo..... busy I seem to work and sleep with a little bit of sewing squeezed in.
I finally made it to the post office yesterday and posted off the blocks to both Sue and Tara.
Firstly the trees-I decided to make two different 'Forests' for you Sue-not the best photos sorry. I was very nervous about making these blocks- would you like them? what fabric would I use? would they fit with all the ideas others would have? I did enjoy making them and although they are not perfect I thought well neither are tress! I hope they are ok.

Tara -

This was an interesting block to put together. Great fabrics and it came together quickly but did take some time working out the placement of the fabrics and I don't know that I got it right in the end. It is going to look great with all the blocks together. Another badly taken photo- had it in the envelope to send then realised I hadn't taken a photo and now it's obvious I should've re ironed!

Tara asked in a comment if she could add 30's fabrics to the project...ABSOLUTELY! I didn't want to ask because some people don't have the 30's "flavor" of fabric in their stashes.

Let's try this...I will send an additional 4 solid green rectangles to everyone. If you have this kind of fabric and would like to make an additional block, go for it. If not, don't worry about it!

Lizzy just re-emailed everyone's address to me last night, and I have not sealed the envelopes yet.

We got 9 inches of snow last night, 14 inches in drifts. It was blowing so hard through the night, I'm surprised there's any out there at all. We are supposed to get a little more today. We are happy to be snug inside! We used to have to climb steps to get into the gazebo...not now! When I peeked out the bedroom window this morning and didn't see much on the roofs and the barbeque, I thought we had not gotten much. The wind kept it from piling up on high surfaces.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Here is Tara's block, all sewn and pressed and ready for the post. Seeing how we are in the middle of a blizzard, that may have to wait until Thursday. I am quickly trying to post all this before we lose power. The winds are howling outside, the snow is falling and blowing, and it is c-c-c-cold!!

I love Tara's idea for her blocks...I was sorely tempted to send out a repeat performance, but then I came up with a really wacky idea. I hope you don't mind playing along.

I decided at the beginning of the year that I wanted to come to some serious decisions about UFO's. I need to either finish them, pass them on, or re-purpose (recycle, really) them. I spotted one UFO on the shelf a couple of weeks ago and decided to take a peek in the bin and make a decision about it's future.

Have you ever heard anyone refer to a project as having "sex appeal??" Well, this project didn't seem "sexy" to me anymore. In fact, I'm not exactly sure what I really had in mind when I cut out all these lovely 30's fabrics a few years ago. Sometimes I just pet fabric and cut out shapes, lost in the fog of fabric lust...

So I have come up with a plan for you to help me make lemonade from lemons. I came up with a new plan using the pieces I have, and cut some of the solid green to help make it all happen. Since the green was in the bin with the UFO, I must have intended it to go together at some point. Lord, I miss my mind!

Using the 4-patch units I already assembled, some additional 3 inch squares, and some solid green rectangles, I have come up with the following block idea.

After laying out the pieces, I sewed them in rows first. On the top and bottom rows, I pressed the seams toward the green rectangles. On the middle row, I pressed the seams away from the 4-patch unit, again, toward the green rectangles.

After assembling the rows, I pressed the seams toward the outside of the square, away from the 4-patch unit. The final block should be 10.5 inches square (unfinished).

I am going to join the blocks by making sashing from additional 3 inch squares of 30's fabrics (I cut TONS of them out, for some reason...), using solid green squares as cornerstones. I think it will be simply stated, but brilliant!

Now we are having "thunder snow" - it's definitely weird out there. It is after midnight here and everything outside is a white blowing blur. Weasley, my cat, seems a little concerned (I am too, truth be known...).